Improvement in horse hay-fores



dinard gaat @that @twine GEORGEN. STEARNS. OF SYRAOUSEQNEW YORK.

Letters .Patent No. 99,120, dated January 25, 1870.

IMPROVEMET IN HORSE HAY-FORKS. I

'.lhe Schedule referred to in thele Letters Patent and making part ofthe same.

To all whom lit may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE N. STEARNS, of the city of Syracuse, in thecounty of- Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented ',a new anduseful Improvement'n Horse or Power Hay-Forks; and I do hereby declarethe following is a full description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication,-in which-Figure 1 -is a perspective view of the device embodying this invention.

Figure -2 is a side elevation of the cam and lever used to operatetheneedle. Y

The rst part of my invention relates tothe combination of theoperating-arms and grasping-tines, and their arrangement with the otherparts of the fork, which will cause the tines to close togethergradually at their points, when being pressed down into the hay.

y The second part is the combination, with the tines, links, and sleeve,of the needle, which needle is furnished with an eye, at or near itspoint, that is capable of receiving and holding the points of the tines,when closed together after being pressed into the hay.

The third part of my invention relates to the combination of a lever andcam with the needle, by which the said needle may be operatedvertically, in either direction, either to bind or hold the points ofthe tines when crossed within the eye, when the said needle is raised,or to free thesaid point of the tines when dropped.

To enable others skilled inthe art to make and use my invention, Idescribe it.

In the letters of reference marked thereon, the same letters indicatelike parts.

In the drawings- A represents the head of the fork.

a is the hoisting-link or eye, to which the hoistingrope is to be xed.

B B are the grasping-tines.

lhe tines B B (made of steel) are of suitable length, and are slightlycurved from a: to their points, while from :t tothe points of theirprincipal connection with the sleeve of the fork, the said tines may bemade curved, asin iig.'1, or made angular.

The said tines B B are hinged to the arms b, which start from themovable sleeve C.

Pivoted to the tines B B, at x, are the operatingarms or links, D D,which 'arms or links govern relatively the tines B B, and areconnectedwith the head A, by means ofthe pivots c. A

When thus arranged, the pivot a: becomes the fulcrum on which thetinesmcve, when the fork is operated, either in the act of entering thehay or dischargingthe same.

.Running down vertically through the centre 'of the fork, is a taperingshaft, E, which I term the needle.

The said needle is provided with au eye, c, at or near its point,ewhichis to receive the .points of the tines B B, when the said tines haveclosed together after entering the hay, which said points of the tines BB will cross leach' other in the eye e, and' be held thus crossed by theeye c'of the needle, (the needle E being raised,) and when thusheld,'the result veffected by the holding of the points of the tines B Btogether, as shown by dotted lines, will be substantially the same as ifthe tines B B were one continuous piece, as a band encircling thematerial being operated with.

To effect a vertical movement of the needle E in Either direction, Iemploy an eccentric, g, shown in In the head of the needle, just abovethe fixed sleeve d, is a pin, i, lig. 2, which .works inthe groovedeccen-l tric g, which eccentric, when mo'ved by the lever h in thedirection shown by arrows in iig. 2, will throw the points ofthe tinestogether.

A reverse movement of the lever will cause the eccentric g to throw theneedle down, and relieve the said points, so that the material beingoperated with willbe discharged from the tines.

To operate with' this fork, the operator thrusts the tines BB into themass of material to be lifted or moved, which thrusting'down will causethe tines (pre vously opened) to gradually close together as they needleup, and carry with it the eye e, and lock the 'enter the hay.

When driven down,A and the tines closed, as shown by dotted lines iniig. '1, the lever 71, is .thrown up, as shown by dotted lines inig. 2,and moving the eccentric g, will throw the needle E up, and cause the'eye e to engage with the points of the tines B B, which were free toenter the said eye e, when the needle E was down. I

Being thus secured together, the mass to he lifted is substantiallyencircled by the clasping-tines, and can be raised up and moved in anydirection, to be deposited, when a cord or trippingerope, attached tothe lever 72., in position as shown in figs. 1 and 2, when the needlewill be thrown down or tripped, and the points of the tines releasedfrom the eye aand, being thus released, the tinesfwill open by theweight of the mass lifted, and suffer itto fall out.

Having thus described my invention, A What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is.- i

l. The tines B B, operated by links D D, and movable sleeve C, incombination with needle E, having eye e, substantially as described.

l 2. The combination of tines B B and verticztlly-mov-v A, links D D,tines B B, movable sleeve C, needle E, able needle E, having an eye, e,atornear its point, having eye e, cam g, and lever h, substantially asdefor the purpose of locking the tines, 4substantially afs scribed.

set forth. l GEO. N. STEARNS. 3. The needle E, operated verticall.v,vbTmeans of the eccentric g, (or its equivalent cams,) and the leverWitnesses:

71,-substantially as and for the purpose set forth. OSCAR O. DENNIS,

4. The combination and arrangement of the head ALMoN O. MEssINGER. Y

